A pounding on his back door stirred Karamatsu from his tuning, confusion crossing over his face for a moment as he set the guitar down on the couch. The familiar aura from the other side of the door immediately alerted him of the guest and Karamatsu opened the door without delay, the door swinging inward to reveal a breathless and slightly panicked Ichimatsu awkwardly carrying an unconscious (y/n).
"Ich--"
"Here," Ichimatsu practically shoved (y/n) into Karamatsu's arms, his face tense, "You deal with this."
"Wha--Ichimatsu, what's going on?" Karamatsu quickly held (y/n), taking in her deteriorating condition with a glance, "What happened..."
Ichimatsu didn't step into the house, looking away as his eyes narrowed further, "...he made his move."
Karamatsu took in a slow breath, a look of recognition passing over his face before directing his attention back to the woman in his arms. His face set in determination as he walked her towards the couch, moving his guitar out of the way before laying her down. Rubbing his hands together, Karamatsu spread his fingers wide and hovered them over (y/n)'s body, moving downwards from her face before pausing over her stomach.
The silence grew between the brothers, the air becoming heavy with anticipation before Karamatsu turned towards Ichimatsu.
"Why not bring her to a hospital? I thought you hated me."
"...I hate hospitals more..." The purple-clad brother grunted, not meeting Karamatsu's gaze.
"Did you see it happen?"
"No...I didn't," Ichimatsu closed his eyes.
"Do they know?"
"...it's possible by now."
Karamatsu stood up from his kneeling position, rubbing a hand on his face before sighing.
"I'll take care of her for the night, and try to soothe things over with the shelter in the morning."
Ichimatsu stayed silent for a short while before nodding and closing the back door, leaving Karamatsu alone with (y/n).
The damage to her womb was extensive, and (y/n) was mercifully unconscious through the entire process as Karamatsu began to heal what he could. It wasn't one of his strongest gifts, but he knew that a hospital would only ask questions from him in regards to her condition and how her uterus became as shredded as it was. His brow furrowed as sweat began to bead on his forehead, the energy slowly passing from his hands to her body, making the internal organ stitch itself up. He wasn't able to completely heal the damage done, but she wasn't going to bleed out.
The sunlight slowly crept into the backroom, peeking in through the partially shaded window and casting the faint morning light down on (y/n)'s feet. Karamatsu swallowed hard as he finally pulled away from her, tugging up his shirt to wipe away the sweat. His mind worked through the next steps that he'd have to do: call the shelter to alert them to where she was, possibly deal with one of the staff visiting...or one of his brothers. How was he going to explain that one of his own acted independently?
He looked back at (y/n), her face now fully relaxed as she slept.
She needed to be cared for first.
Karamatsu stood up and stretched, moving towards his bedroom a few doors down and pulling out a tank top, a pullover hoodie, and a pair of sweatpants from his closet and setting them inside the guest bathroom by the back room. Heading towards his office near the front of the house, he grabbed the landline phone and dialed the shelter's main number, walking towards the back room when the line clicked over.
"St. Benedict Joseph Labre House of Hope, Sister Yui speaking."
"Ah, yes...I have one of your tenants here. She failed to check in last night due to a medical emergency after her work shift, and she's still asleep," Karamatsu spoke in a calm manner, "Her name is (l/n) (y/n)."
"Hold one moment, please," The line switched to a call hold, giving Karamatsu a moment to breathe. The hold music played for a few minutes before the receptionist picked the line back up.
"Is Ms. (y/n) still with you?"
"Yes, she hasn't moved since she fell asleep here," He looked over at (y/n).
"We appreciate you taking care of one of our own. Be sure to have her bring the medical documents with her upon her return so we can put them under her file."
"All right," Karamatsu rubbed his forehead with his thumb and index finger. Of course they'd ask for official papers...
"Thank you, sir, and have a blessed day," The line clicked dead as Karamatsu moved the handset away from his ear. One of his brothers was on their way; that was the only reason why the shelter wasn't worried about when (y/n) would be back.
A yawn drew Karamatsu's attention to the couch, seeing (y/n) slowly stretch out and sit up, her hand quickly darting to her stomach as she winced.
"Good morning, (y/n)," He softly called out, standing far away from her as she started to wake up.
"...Kara...matsu...?" After rubbing her eyes, she looked around the back room, taking in the change of scenery.
"How are you feeling?" Karamatsu didn't move from his position.
"I feel sore...though, I'm more confused as to why I'm...here...?" She moved into a more comfortable sitting position, slowly swinging her legs over the edge of the couch and looking around the room more closely.
"Ichimatsu brought you to my house last night after finding you in the back alley next to his café," He set the handset down on a shelf in the nearby bookcase, "He didn't tell me any details."
She didn't respond as her face screwed up in thought, and Karamatsu waited patiently for the questions to come.
"I...remember taking the trash out after the café closed..." Her hand brushed over her lips, pulling away and rubbing her fingertips together as if feeling something on them, "That's right...I was taking out the trash and felt this intense pain in my stomach. After that, it just got worse and I think I threw up...?"
"If you're worried, we can go to the clinic nearby to have you checked out. They open up in ten minutes," Karamatsu pointed towards the guest bathroom, "There's a spare set of clothes in there, so you're more than welcome to take a shower to freshen up beforehand."
"Okay..." She didn't sound sure but went to where he had pointed, closing and locking the door behind her. When the sound of running water filled the bathroom, Karamatsu put the handset back onto the dock in his office and changed into more public-appropriate clothing, exchanging his lounging outfit for a long-sleeved shirt, a pair of blue jeans, and his old leather jacket.
Fifteen minutes had passed when he heard the water in the guest bathroom shut off, his focus shifting back to his guitar as (y/n) went through whatever her routine was. Karamatsu didn't want to rush her, despite knowing that with each minute that passed, whoever was sent to check up on her was coming closer. There wouldn't be a fight between the brothers -- not with (y/n) around -- but he still didn't want to risk her getting involved any more than she already was.
"Karamatsu, I'm good to go," The bathroom door opened down the hall, and she held her dirty clothes in a tightly-wadded ball. Karamatsu picked up the cue and put his guitar back in its case, moving towards the kitchen to grab a plastic grocery bag for her to put them in.
"There's a small walk-in clinic a few blocks down from here. I go there often, so I know they're good people," He handed her the bag and noticed the shift on her face, watching as uncertainty grew, "It's all right...you can trust them."
"I...I'll see for myself. The last one I went to didn't..." She trailed off, leaving the sentence unfinished.
"The one Osomatsu took you to?" He waved (y/n) through the front door. She barely nodded. Karamatsu withheld any outward reaction.
"I'm sorry to hear that..."
"It's not your fault," (Y/n) tried to laugh, "You were talking about another clinic for me to go to. Is this the same one?"
"Yeah. I go there for physical check-ups," Karamatsu gave her a wide smile as they walked.
"Just like you go to that café so often?" She glanced up at him, a slight smile on her lips.
"You can't deny that their food is good."
----
Karamatsu watched as the nurse called (y/n) in for a physical exam, staying in the outpatient waiting area until she disappeared behind the large automated door, finally turning his attention to the man that had been staring at him for the past two minutes.
In the main entrance lobby stood Choromatsu, fully dressed in his green-lined cassock and light gray stole, a black briefcase held tightly in his left hand. His intense dark eyes stared at Karamatsu over the frames of his glasses, the glare alone issuing a challenge to the older brother. Karamatsu turned on his heel and walked out of the waiting area, taking long strides to stand in front of his younger brother, matching the glare with the same intensity.
"I'm here to pick up (y/n)."
"She's seeing a doctor at the moment."
"Then you're free to leave," Choromatsu narrowed his eyes, "I can handle the rest."
"You know that I can't do that," Karamatsu lifted his head up a little, staring down at the priest, "Last I checked, you weren't exactly welcome here."
Choromatsu's eyes flared red before he closed them, taking in a breath and letting it out slowly. Karamatsu stayed calm as he watched the priest restrain himself, knowing full well that he had the upper hand here.
"When did you become so protective of (y/n)?" Choromatsu opened his eyes again, a partial smile crossing his lips, "I didn't realize that you had become attracted to her."
"I'm not," Karamatsu's answer was quick and clear, "Don't test me again. You will lose. Go back to that 'church' of yours, and I'll deliver (y/n) there safely after she's finished."
Choromatsu huffed, tilting his head up a little before raising his right hand to push the glasses against his face.
"We'll see what she wants."
----
"Ms. (L/n), I have your results ready," The doctor stated as she took her seat on the stool nearby, the metal clipboard tucked under her arm as she logged into the small computer on the counter.
"So, what's the news...?" I tried to look at the screen, both not wanting to know and curious to find out what had caused the pain last night.
"The good news is that you're not pregnant," The doctor turned the screen fully towards me, showing the ultrasound still shots, "We did a complete scan of the area and found that your endometrium does have some scarring, as well as some old scarring on your right ovary. It could have been an ovarian cyst at one point, and the endometrium scarring will heal with time. I can prescribe some painkillers for you, but the over-the-counter pills will work just as well," She used a pen to point out what she was looking at, sounding confident in her analysis.
"I'll just get some over-the-counter stuff," She nodded when I uttered the words.
"All right. If you ever feel that intense pain again, come back and we'll take another look to see if that cyst is reoccurring," She logged off the computer and stood up, "Do you have any questions for me?"
"From the scan that was done...could you tell if I was ever pregnant at all?"
"The scarring on your endometrium is light, but there was no egg attached to the wall nor in the process of attaching to the wall. There was no chance that a fetus was growing," The doctor shook her head, "I'm sorry if that's not the answer you wanted."
"No...it's just I've been having abdominal pain for the past few days. I just didn't know if it was pregnancy or just my body being mean."
"I can say for certain that it wasn't pregnancy. If the cramping becomes unbearable, you're welcome to speak with the OB/GYN about birth control options to help stabilize your cycle," The doctor smiled down at me. I smiled back in response, saying my goodbye as she left when I indicated there were no more questions. The nurse that led me in gave me some paperwork about the indicators of having ovarian cysts and what to do when there was a flare-up, leading me back out into the waiting area afterwards.
The entire visit had been pleasant, quite the stark difference from the clinic that Osomatsu had taken me to. The nurses were nice and caring, and the doctor had taken her time listening to the problems and symptoms that I was experiencing. If I had any future pain, I'd definitely take the extra walking time to come back here.
I had expected to see Karamatsu waiting there, but found his absence strange. As I moved from the waiting area to the main lobby, I saw Karamatsu standing stiffly while staring out the front door. Following his line of sight, I noticed Choromatsu sitting outside on one of the benches, thumbing through a small book while the wind gently tossed about his hair.
There was definitely something going on between the brothers...
"Karamatsu...?" I quietly drew his attention.
"(Y/n), you're finished?" The tense look on his face was replaced with slight surprise.
"Yeah, much faster than I anticipated..."
"That's good, then," Karamatsu gave a soft smile before looking back outside, "My brother, Choromatsu, is here to escort you back to the shelter. I had called them earlier to notify them of where you were, as I didn't want you to get into trouble with them. I don't mind walking you there, but it's up to you."
My grip on the papers tightened a little, considering my options.
If I walked with Karamatsu, then I could ask him more questions about what was going on between the brothers. It didn't seem like he had lied to me about anything so far, and Karamatsu appeared to be more open with questions than Choromatsu had been recently.
If I walked with Choromatsu, who knows if I'd get any kind of answer to the questions I had. A small feeling in the back of my head led me to believe that Choromatsu would be more open than Osomatsu or Todomatsu, in regards to their behavior...
Taking a few breaths to calm down, I looked back up at Karamatsu and gave him an answer.
"I--"